Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-02

as they are stripped of the garment of
wood which has been upon the region
ever since, in the far-off ages, they came
from the depths of the ses, they wear
with great rapidity. The erosion is lin
tied, as long as they are forest-clad, to
the stream beds, and there Is hindered by
the innumerable obstacles of the fallen
trees and entangled driftwood. The
brooks which are strong enough to clear
their beds and cut into the earth and rock
are few in number; we may often, on the
fatter ground, find tracts of square
mile or more in area in which there is
not single stream that ever assails
the surface of the earth. AS soon, how
ever, as the forest mat is removed the
surface becomes scanned with channels.
They often, on the deforested surface,
increase one-hundredfold in their length
and more than that measure in destruct-
i've power. Relieved of all restraint from
fallen timber or the close-knit roots
which enmesh the earth they sweep the
precious soil away toward the sea. In 8
single day a titled field may lose from its
surface more soil than would be taken
from it in a century of it's forest state.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOREST TREES.
The controlling conditions in the dis
tribution of the forest trees are: first,
the characteristics of the species; Sec
ond, the nature of the soil; third, the
chance of distribution of the seed; and,
lastly, the assaults of the animal enemies
which each kind encounters. Some
species-ss, for instance, the black 10
cust-are extensively subjected to in
sect enemies. The oaks, on the
other hand sre, on account OF
their acid sap, tolerably well protected
from such dangers. AS whole, our
deciduous trees have established, by one
device and another, a tolersbly strong de-
Tense against animal pests. In fact, they
owe their continued existence to their
success in preventing this class OF
dangers. Now and then some new enemy
arises, which imperils and may destroy a
species. An instance of this sort
has recently come to the attention of
the present writer from some
study of the forests of Kentucky,
which was undertaken with the co-opers,
ton of his assistants. 1t appears from
these observations that the white oaks OF
| that district, which, despite the ravages
of the ak, still constitute some of it's
finest forests, are in the way to disappear
| A1OAh GLACIA 1oAAulO w 1SPIO OOSS hASAA hAhO
There are singulsrly few young white oaks
in these woods, but an abundance Of the
less desirable varieties of red and Spanish
oaks. The reason for this seems to be
that the nuts of the white-oak are more
palatable to the squirrels than those OF
the other species; so these creatures IN
dustriously seek them out, and only
resort to the more bitter and probably
| To- 90 ~
when those of the white oak fail them
In similar ways other animals reac
destructively upon other fores
trees. The introduction of swine
in the settled portions of the forests
brings q greedy and judicious palate tt
consume the more edible nuts, and sc
destroy the progeny of many trees. Blu
what is one kinds loss is another kind
gain; with the destruction of one species
it's competitors find fair field and hastel
to occupy It From Forests of Nortl
America, by Professor N. S. ShaIer, il
Scribner' Magazine for May.